MUMBAI : Zoya Akhtar has made her mark as a director in the Hindi film industry with her debut film itself. Luck By Chance, which starred her brother Farhan Akhtar in the lead gave her a kickstart in her journey as a Bollywood director. She later went on to make other critically acclaimed films like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Dil Dhadakne Do, and Gully Boy.

She is now working on live-action musical film adaptation of the popular comics, The Archies. The director has now revealed that at the time of her debut, her technicians chose to take orders from her lead actor rather than her.

Farah is the daughter of lyricist Javed Akhtar and screenwriter Honey Irani and sister of actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar. She directed Farhan in Luck By Chance in 2009.

Zoya said, “When I started directing (Luck By Chance), my brother was my lead actor, and he was an established filmmaker already. So, I had certain technicians ask him if the shot was okay, and he had to be like, she is the director."

She added, "I had taken a Steadicam operator to the side and said, ‘I don’t think we can work together if you won’t speak to me.’ And he (the cameraman) responded saying, ‘But you’re like my sister.’ I said, ‘I’m not your sister, I’m your boss!’ We subsequently became friends, because it was a chat without any angst involved.”

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Luck By Chance was praised by the critics but did not perform well at the box office. She followed it with a much successful film, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara just two years later.

Zoya is now gearing up for the second season of Made In Heaven. She is also working on The Archies, which would mark the film debut of Shah Rukh Khan's daughter Suhana Khan, Boney Kapoor's daughter Khushi Kapoor, and Amitabh Bachchan's grandson Agastya Nanda.

The makers had released the teaser of The Archies early this month and it had taken the internet by storm. Zoya had said that The Archies has been a part of her childhood and teenage years and she is thrilled about bringing the characters to life on screen. However, the ace filmmaker also mentioned that given the global popularity of the characters, she is also nervous.

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Credits: Hindustan Times